cherry-pick

To cherry-pick is to choose very carefully. It especially means to select the best of what’s available or being offered.

The word sometimes implies that doing so is solely for one’s benefit or gain, or to gain an advantage over others.

In the context of research and data, it’s used in a more specific way meaning to selectively choose and present information that supports an existing point of view or hypothesis. This kind of cherry-picking is often unethical.

In sports like basketball and soccer (football), cherry-pick means something different: to position oneself away from the main action and most defenders, near the basket or goal, in hopes of being passed the ball and being able to score easily. A person who does this can be called a cherry picker.

The term cherry picker can also refer to anyone who cherry-picks in any of the senses of the word. It’s also used in a much more specific way to refer to a kind of crane with a bucket for a person to stand in, especially one mounted on a truck. This kind of cherry picker can be used to lift someone up to heights that can’t be reached by most ladders, such as to trim trees or fix power lines.

Cherry-pick is sometimes spelled without a hyphen, as cherry pick.

Example: When I was building my computer, I had to cherry-pick the best components from multiple brands to achieve a well-constructed machine.

The first records of cherry-pick in a nonliteral sense come from around the middle of the 1900s.

Someone literally picking cherries would only select the best ones, and a person who cherry-picks in the common figurative sense of the word is trying to do the same thing: select the best stuff from what’s available. In the context of sports, research, and data, cherry-picking is often seen as unfair, unethical, or as downright cheating.

What are some other forms related to cherry-pick?

• cherry pick (unhyphenated alternate spelling)
• cherry-picked (past tense verb, adjective)
• cherry-picking (continuous tense verb, noun)
• cherry picker (noun)

What are some words that share a root or word element with cherry-pick? 

• cherry
• pick
• handpick
• pick of the litter

What are some words that often get used in discussing cherry-pick?

• select
• selection
• choose
• best
• items
• data
• information
• research

Cherry-pick can be used in both neutral and negative ways. Cherry-picking in the context of research is typically considered unethical.

cherry pick from all successful investors
they all have good things to pick from https://t.co/nH0pUOuICw

— Hitting Bids (@Sparticuszorro) November 15, 2020

Oooh, so hard to choose! But my top pick would have to be the heart-rending In Every Wave (every father has to read this!) followed closely by the charming and timeless mystery of The Unknown Huntsman. @QCfiction really does cherry-pick the best of emerging #Quebec fiction. pic.twitter.com/n8yhNkVKwI

— David Warriner (@givemeawave) November 12, 2020

I am all for healthy debate. What I am not for is pretending to be open to new ideas, only to cherry pick evidence that supports only your own philosophy, ignores nuance, makes bold conclusions from data, and disparages alternative interpretations

— Essential worker ($13.50/hour) (@AroundtheAssoc) November 9, 2020

Is cherry-pick used correctly in the following sentence?

It’s hard to debate with him because he cherry-picks the facts that support his argument.